CARLSBAD ----- Federal agents arrested 20 illegal immigrants after a small smuggling boat landed at Carlsbad State Beach early Wednesday, U.S. Border Patrol officials said.
About 1 a.m., Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers were patrolling the coastline when they spotted the fishing boat near the shores of Carlsbad, according to a Border Patrol news release.
Agents headed to the beach, where the boat had landed, and immediately arrested seven people, officials said. A Customs and Border Protection helicopter crew searched the area and found 10 others.
The boat, with two people aboard, tried to flee toward Mexico, but a Customs and Border Protection plane and boat intercepted it, officials said.
Border Patrol agents also arrested a man in a van by the beach who was suspected of being involved in the smuggling attempt.
The 19 men and one women arrested were all Mexican, except one, who was from Ecuador, officials said.They were in the U.S. illegally.
The investigation into the smuggling operation is continuing, officials said.
